Ricerc@Sapienza

In the last years, the frequency and the intensity of adverse meteorological conditions are on the rise and climate changes have the potential to affect negatively the electrical systems in many different ways. Local or extended electrical outages have been and are caused by extremely severe negative meteorological events of different nature, like strong wind, wet snow, heavy rain and heat waves. Of course, such interruptions of electrical system affect also critical infrastructures with a negative impact on all the human and industrial activities.

One of the parameters that has to be considered in designing underground cables is the thermal resistivity of the soil along their routes. In fact, the ampacity of the MV underground cables having different types of insulation is normally evaluated through the application of the IEC Standard 60287-x 'Electric cables - Calculation of the current rating'. This series of IEC Standard is formed of three parts as in the following: part 1: Formulae of ratings and power losses; part 2: Formulae for thermal resistance; part 3: Sections on operating conditions.